Integrative Approaches to Heavy Metal Removal Using Fungal Consortia: Trends, Techniques, and Challenges

The increasing contamination of soil and water by heavy metals (HMs) has potentially detrimental effects on the environment and human health, especially in areas impacted by industrial and mining activities. Fungal consortia, which use synchronous and diverse assemblages of fungal species, have been proposed as the next environmentally friendly, sustainable agent for bioremediation of HM pollution. Compared with single-strain systems, fungal consortia provide enhanced efficiency through synergistic interactions, functional diversity, and improved adaptability to complex contaminated environments. This review identifies and discusses recent trends, novel methodologies, and challenges concerning the use of fungal consortia for HM removal. Fungi can also survive and accumulate HMs through biosorption, bioaccumulation, extracellular precipitation, enzymatic transformation, and more. Integrated approaches that utilize molecular technologies, immobilization strategies, and multispecies biofilms have dramatically increased the metal-removal efficiencies. Yet significant challenges remain, not the least of which is the current lack of understanding of complex and unique microbial/microbiome interactions in the field, the inconsistency of field performance, and hurdles such as scalability and regulation. Working through these limitations requires cooperation between interdisciplinary collaborators focused on understanding the operational parameters and development of customized consortia for specific contaminated sites. When traditional knowledge is combined with advancements in biotechnologies, fungal consortia represent an exciting opportunity and a potential pathway forward for more environmentally friendly and sometimes cost-effective processes needed for sustainable HMs.